Champion Sofuoglu sends out 2013 warning shot

Kenan Sofuoglu has sent out a warning signal to his World Supersport Championship rivals after wasting little time getting acquainted with his new Mahi Kawasaki team during testing at Jerez.

The reigning champion, who secured his third career title during his first season with Kawasaki in 2012, remains with the manufacturer this year but switches to the new factory-backed, Indian-funded Mahi Racing team.

Having made his Mahi debut during post-season testing towards the end of 2012, Sofuoglu continued to progress at Jerez as he ended the two-day test with the fastest lap time, marginally ahead of Yakhnich Yamaha's Sam Lowes and newcomer Michael van der Mark on the Pata Honda.

“I am leaving here very pleased because at the test in November I had some problems in the dry with the feel on the front, because of my riding style. Now I am satisfied because they found some suspension improvements for me and they will now go and build some new material to give me a wider range of adjustments to work with.

“I am sure they will make another improvement so I am happy with the team, the bike and the package. I really wanted to come here to test again before we went to Phillip Island so I could see if the other teams were ready or not, so I am happy that the test went well and that my team will be ready to fight in the first race.”

“[During the wet] I am happy that we found good improvements in our wet set-up. I did not have a good feeling until late in those conditions. By the end of the day we had made a very big improvement. We changed a lot, so I am very happy.”

Elsewhere in the Kawasaki camp, Sofuoglu Mahi's team-mate Fabien Foret was fifth quickest, 1.3secs slower than the Turk, while series returnee David Salom was tenth best on his debut run with the Intermoto outfit.